Getting ready for what turned out to be a thrilling performance of the Athens Master Chorale in the atrium at the Classic Center last Sunday, I reflected again on just how much really good cultural entertainment is available to us here in Athens. Much of it is free, too, like the chorale and like the upcoming Athens Symphony Christmas Concert with local author Terry Kay as narrator and with the Athens Symphony Chorus, this Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 14 & 15. For details on the Symphony and everything else that’s going on, make it a habit to check the Flagpole weekly calendar in the paper and online. You’ll be surprised how much there is to do and what a wide variety is included every week.

Finding something to do is not the problem; getting out there to do it is the rub. It’s true that we tend to take it all for granted. I’m certainly guilty of that: working and going home. The more you go out, though, the more you realize the riches around us, available with just a little effort. Of course, that’s another thing about living in Athens. Everything is so close together you could practically walk to all of it if you live in town. Driving, nothing is more than 15 minutes away.

We all know about the music scene here, whether we take advantage of it or not, and if we don’t, we may not know what we’re missing. It’s a lot more than rock and roll: classical, country, bluegrass, jazz, blues, folk: national acts and first-time performances—in fine concert halls and crowded bars. If you and I will just make the effort, we’ll find out or be reminded just how much we enjoy live music.

Ouida Williams flies over landscapes and uses color to tell what she sees.

Or take art. Athens is a music town, but it is also an art town. Art is everywhere we go, and the enjoyment of it is free. We see it in restaurants as well as in galleries and museums. We have the Georgia Museum of Art right here on campus, not to mention Lyndon House and other galleries scattered around town. For instance, right now, in the Circle Gallery of the College of Environment and Design, you can walk in and see the work of two of Athens’ finest artists: the paintings of Ouida Williams and the metalwork of Barbara Mann. What Ouida does with color and what Barbara does with metal will make you stand in awe. And all you have to do in order to see their joint show, “Landscapes Near and Far,” is walk over to what used to be the art building on Jackson St. and go right into the gallery. The show will be up through Dec. 19 and should not be missed.

The same must be said for René Shoemaker’s new show at Hendershot’s: 20 linoleum prints on paper, drawn from her on-site sketches and photographs of café life in France. And all you have to do is walk right into Hendershot’s and feast your eyes, perhaps enhancing the experience with a coffee or a glass of wine, while enjoying our own café life. René’s work is at Hendershot’s through December. Also, the pottery and craft sales continue all over Athens and beyond. See the calendar for the listings.

Theater: good grief! This weekend Town and Gown has director Eric Kumsomboone’s very well done drag version of Romeo and Juliet (which I located in Padua, rather than Verona, on last week’s Flagpole cover). Rose of Athens has The Santaland Diaries at The Melting Point Tues., Dec. 10-Thursday, Dec. 12 and The Circle Ensemble is doing A Tuna Christmas at New Earth Athens this Friday and Saturday and next.

These are just a few of the reasons, free and paid, for getting out and enjoying what our town has to offer. You’ve got nothing to lose, and you can’t go wrong.